Soil bacterial community structure determines its resistance: A case study of aerial seeding restoration in the Mu Us sandy land, China

Understanding the driving factors of ecosystem stability can help restore degraded ecosystems. Resistance is an important part of ecosystem stability, and soil microbial diversity and soil microbial community structure are key attributes of soil microorganisms. However, the effects of the two on soil community resistance are controversial. We used high-throughput sequencing data to analyze changes in soil bacterial diversity, community structure, and resistance along the aerial seeding restoration sequence from 1983 to 2017 in the Mu Us sandy land of China. We further analyzed the effects of soil bacterial diversity and community structure on community resistance. The results showed aerial seeding restoration increased soil bacterial diversity, changed soil bacterial community structure, and improved soil bacterial resistance. Soil bacterial diversity and soil bacterial community structure significantly correlated with resistance. The structural equation model showed that soil bacterial community structure contributed more to the impact of resistance than soil bacterial diversity. This study confirmed the crucial role of soil bacterial community structure in soil bacterial community resistance, deepened the theoretical understanding of the relationship between soil microbial community resistance, microbial diversity, and community structure in the process of ecosystem restoration threatened by desertification, and provided guidance for the improvement of soil community resistance during the aerial seeding restoration process.